pillars and tongues The Pass and Crossings (CD, £11.50)

label: Empty Cellar

Empty Cellar is proud to announce the release of the new full-length from Chicago's PILLARS AND TONGUES, The Pass and Crossings. After two full-lengths-and too many DIY releases to count-Pillars and Tongues have returned from near-endless touring to deliver their most focused outing yet. Having spent years developing a uniquely textured sound, Pillars and Tongues have now given teeth their creation, and the doom is manifest. This is immediately apparent in the lyrical depths of the album opener, a mesmerizing song seemingly conjured by seduction from some very dark places. Lush violin lines swell and sing over pulsing drums, moving at a pace and with a weight that would not be out of place on an Earth record. Rolling desert drones permeate this album, interlaced with swampy melodies, adorned with moments of shimmering dream pop, and punctuated by heavy-almost tribal-percussion. The album plunges deep into spiritually imbued moments of minimalist trance, and emerges like some haunted vision of Peter Gabriel during cathartic groove-heavy climaxes on tracks "Thank You, Oaky" and "The Making Graceful." As with their previous album, Lay of Pilgrim Park (Empty Cellar), Pillars and Tongues continue to accumulate comparisons to the goth-drama and global grooves of early 4AD legends, Dead Can Dance. MARK TRECKA's bold baritone pleads with absent forms and howls haunted poetry while BETH REMIS and EVAN HYDZIK's signature rhythmic singing weaves otherworldly harmonies throughout, vocals that Pitchfork referred to as "acrobatic". When Trecka, Remis, and Hydzik hit it just right, their voices and instruments blend to create something that is altogether far greater than the sum of their parts. This sort of bewitching alchemy is just the type of thing they have been honing for the past few years. A lush richness that few bands ever achieve without a reliance on electric instruments and layered effects. The Pass and the Crossings is a record full of dark moments and seductive pleas-a lustrous watermark in the ever-evolving history of Pillars and Tongues. Features contributions from BEN BABBITT & THEO KARON form THIS IS CINEMA.